


A Sense of Grief

by c0smicqueer



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Episode: s04e22 These Are the Voyages, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Malcolm is Sad, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: s04e22 These Are The Voyages, TATV, Trip is Dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28337976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c0smicqueer/pseuds/c0smicqueer
Summary: "How I wish, how I wish you were hereWe're just two lost soulsSwimming in a fish bowlYear after yearRunning over the same old groundWhat have we found?The same old fearsWish you were here"- Pink Floyd
Relationships: Malcolm Reed & Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Comments: 9
Kudos: 8





	A Sense of Grief

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ScottieIsImpatient](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScottieIsImpatient/gifts).



> I hate These Are the Voyages truly. But for the purpose of this fic, it's still canon.

Malcolm sat stiffly on a couch in the observation room. It was the day after Christmas, only months since Trip had so courageously given his life to protect the Enterprise. That day was the worst day of his life, he was sure. Trip had been his best friend, his shadow. He had hovered over Malcolm day after day at his station, called him to Engineering hundreds of times to fix power relays, stormed into the Armory to tell him off for rerouting power, snarked at him in the shuttle pods and on away missions. Trip had been a mainstay in his time on Enterprise, had chipped away at his walls, dug deep into his being. Trip had been a friend. They had bonded over so many close calls, in basements and frozen shuttle pods, and humid jungles. They had touched down on more than twenty new planets. They had been through so much together. 

The Enterprise had plotted course for a nebula days before with the goal of gathering some data and celebrating Christmas on the precipice of such a dazzling cosmic marvel. Malcolm stared into the nebula intently. It was so beautiful - breathtaking. The colors were endless - violet and azure at the edges, changing to mauve and then rose in the middle. There were countless specks of light dancing amidst the gas. So many stars, burning and dancing and living. The vastness of space was incomprehensible to Malcolm now. It was so much bigger than drifting in the ocean, than anything he could truly comprehend. Everything was so big and people, Enterprise, Earth were so small. And now the universe was even smaller without Trip in it. The impact that Trip had made on him and so many others was beyond Malcolm.   
  
He sat there for what felt like hours, still and concentrating. What would Trip have said? Malcolm imagined Trip sitting next to him, shoulder to shoulder. He could almost feel him, could almost see him out of the corner of his eye. He could hear Trip sigh happily, content to take it all in. He could be pensive and quiet sometimes, truly in awe and wonder at the marvels of the cosmos. Until he would eventually be overwhelmed by his characteristic joy and exuberance and say something. Malcolm wished Trip could do that now. He missed Trip’s outbursts. He missed Trip’s presence. He missed the enigma that was Trip Tucker. 

“I wish you were here, Trip.”

Malcolm sighed softly and felt tears stream down his cheeks. He sat quietly for a moment, feeling a sharp pain and sense of loss in his chest. Then he stood and took one last glance at the nebula before turning and walking into the darkness of the corridor.

**Author's Note:**

> gifted to scottie b/c this is my first attempt at angst. i don't know what else to say i'm just in my feelings & this happened.


End file.
